Eighth Survivor- LCpl Sean Coop Cooper- Part 1

This week's Survivor is part one of a two part story...

A tall man in what was once an expensive suit knelt on the floor, trying to will his friend back to life. He beat on his chest, hitting it harder and harder. But there was no response. There were eight men in the large, round room. Five wore dark suits, Uzi submachineguns in their hands, fully loaded clips. All of the guns were pointed at entrances, doors and windows. The final man wore body armour and camouflage fatigues, standing beside the man attempting to save his friend's life.

One of the black suited men ran forward, speaking to the man. "Sir?.... Sir?... He has gone Sir, I need to get you out of here now, Sir?..."

No response from him, his attempts at life saving continued. He wasn't like the soldier, or the other suited men. He wasn't used to death. But who could be used to this much death?

A rasping sound came from the supposedly dead man on the floor. A "dead" arm moved to grab it's one time friend.

The soldier moved immediately. Drawing his pistol, he forcibly pulled the man off the "dead" man he was trying so desperately to save.

The single shot brought the suited man to his senses. Seeing his friend, his co-worker, his ally, someone he had worked with long hours, through good and bad times get shot in the head brought it all back to reality. Who could be used to death? There were a few people. But who could be used to this? He sat, leaning against the heavy wooden table.

With a groan, he stood up, his voice spoke slowly, trembling "...get her. Please get her.... then you can save me"

The soldier turned, holstered his pistol and said matter of fact, "Sir, yes sir. The team has already been sent"

Or that is at least what I imagine happened. I wasn't there. I was in a briefing, me and every other Special Forces Soldier this side of Baghdad. Every single one of us got packed into whatever bird they could get in the air to save this person or that person. No one could predict how fast the cities would fall, how many there would be, how ineffective our preventative measures would be. So they sent us in, the "best of the best" and all that on these suicide missions to save some five star general or some politician who couldn't get out of town fast enough.

So I'm there, taking a briefing on the lawn, all the while I can see and hear the reservists setting perimeters, getting guns ready and squaring themselves away. I have nothing but respect for those reservists, man if I had a family? no way in hell I would be here, I would have nicked off the first chance I got. Would have taken my rifle and all the bullets I could carry too. But they were there, they were the biggest god damn heroes that day if you ask me.

Our tasking was somewhere across town. Should still be still in the main building. Should. If there was a main building left. We had better intel on what is happening on Pluto than we do about the streets between us and them.

Our ride for that day was the Channel 7 News Copter, it was landed nearby, so we grabbed their pilot and hopped in. Pity the weather girl wasn't part of the deal. She was sitting there with her head in her hands. She wasn't crying, her tears had run out long ago. Lucky for her she didn't come for a ride along, she was safer with the reservists. The bird is in the air two minutes later, it didn't exactly take long to share our zero intel at the briefing. At least we knew the name of the building I guess.

Out on the street, the city is burning.

It doesn't take long to get there. The chopper lands on the nearest piece of flat land, and my team moves out. The door ahead of us is still closed, there is no movement anywhere near us. The chopper takes off again, and it seems quiet. It isn't, alarms and sirens scream, fires burn and engines roar. Somehow, in all that noise, it feels quiet. It just doesn't feel right.

Our four man team stacks up at the door, guns up, with no idea what we will find on the inside....

LCpl Cooper comes from Eureka Miniatures, from their SEAL Team Six pack. I really like the set of figures, they are characterful and well sculpted. You can be sure that the rest of them will make an appearance here soon too! I decided that Cooper was a Recon Marine, so his camo is woodland MARPAT (Marine Pattern). I also gave him a big pack, taken from one of the 1/48th scale Airfix soldiers. After all, you have to have a place to keep all your supplies! The join between the was filled using greenstuff, and some pack straps added too. I resisted the urge to put a camo pattern on the pack, fearing that it would make the model too "busy".

I quite liked painting the camo actually, it makes me want to do more of them! One of the big drivers for me starting this project was to paint something OTHER than camo, and here I am, right back on the wagon. It is possible I have some form of addiction....

Anyway, there you have it, "Coop", with his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, ready to go. And as for part two, seems a bit cruel to make you wait a whole week until next Friday. So I think Part 2 will be up Monday, as a bonus survivor. Sound good?

Chris